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A bank bailout for Afghanistan?
(The Week)
The Week - A run on Kabul Bank — the nation's largest — is triggering fears of an Afghan financial meltdown. Should the U.S. step in?
How Old School Is George Clooney's 'The American'?
(The Atlantic Wire)
The Atlantic Wire - The options could hardly be starker for Labor Day movie-goers. On one hand, there's the blood-stained Machete,
which seems to revel in the number of body-parts it dismembers for the pleasure of audiences. And, of course, there's also that
European-tinged, art-house hitman movie with the relatively unassuming poster
of George Clooney furrowing his brow. What's that one about, exactly?
It appears that nearly half of our nation's finest critics lost their
patience with the slow-burning film before trying to figure that out.
Why Are the Feds Suing Brash Arizona Sheriff?
(The Atlantic Wire)
The Atlantic Wire -
Do enough Democrats want to extend Bush tax cuts?
(The Week)
The Week - With increasing numbers of moderate Democrats balking, Obama's plan to let tax cuts for the rich expire hits a serious snag
Pakistan floods: World reactions
(The Week)
The Week - The waters have started to drain in Pakistan, but the country's problems are far from over. The world reacts:
Christine O'Donnell: The Tea Party's next breakout star?
(The Week)
The Week - In a key race to watch, the Tea Party candidate for Delaware's Senate seat is trying to oust establishment Republican Mike Castle in a Sept. 14 primary
Evaluating Obama's 'Second Stimulus' Proposals
(The Atlantic Wire)
The Atlantic Wire - As the job market and housing sector
continue to suffer, the White House is seeking initiatives meant to
re-stimulate the economy, following the first stimulus efforts of 2009.
According
to Time magazine, "most nonpartisan economists agree" that the first
stimulus was successful in the short-term but did not go far enough.
The "second stimulus" proposals are a $100 billion tax credit for businesses and $50 billion on infrastructure spending.
Any such measures must still be improved by an increasingly partisan
Congress that is expected to shift heavily Republican in November.
Newt's Faint Presidential Prospects
(RealClearPolitics.com)
RealClearPolitics.com - On Friday, at a town hall in small town Oklahoma, conservative Sen. Tom Coburn said Newt Gingrich is "the last person I'd vote for, for president." Gingrich is "a super-smart man but he doesn't know anything about commitment to marriage." Gingrich lacks, in Coburn's view, "the character traits necessary to be a great president."
Letters to the Editor – Weekly Issue of September 6, 2010
(The Christian Science Monitor)
The Christian Science Monitor - Stimulus: Buy US goodsRegarding the article "The intricate task of recovery" (Aug. 16 double issue): A congressional budget analyst is quoted as saying, "[I]t's a choice between putting people back to work and cutting the deficit. You cannot do both." This implies that we need more government stimulus to create jobs, thereby increasing the deficit.
Schneiderman for Attorney General
(The Nation)
The Nation - The Nation -- "Transformational politics is the work we do today to ensure that the deal we can get on gun control or immigration reform in a year—or five years, or twenty years—will be better than the deal we can get today. Transformational politics requires us to challenge the way people think about issues, opening their minds to better possibilities."
Attack Ad: Google CEO Moonlights as Evil Ice Cream Truck Driver
(The Atlantic Wire)
The Atlantic Wire - In a biting work of satire, the advocacy group Consumer Watchdog has a
new video out depicting Google CEO Eric Schmidt in an unflattering
light. In the CGI video, a malevolent-looking Schmidt attracts little
children with free ice cream while secretly giving them full-body scans.
As they clamor for his ice cream, a green-eyed Schmidt snickers:
5 Best Sunday Columns
(The Atlantic Wire)
The Atlantic Wire - The 'Brutal' Dem Plan for November The New York Times' Jeff Zeleny and Carl Hulse write,
"As Democrats brace for a November wave that threatens their control of
the House, party leaders are preparing a brutal triage of their own
members in hopes of saving enough seats to keep a slim grip on the
majority. In the next two weeks, Democratic leaders will review new
polls and other data that show whether vulnerable incumbents have a
path to victory. If not, the party is poised to redirect money to
concentrate on trying to protect up to two dozen lawmakers who appear
to be in the strongest position to fend off their challengers." In
other words, Democrats whose odds look unlikely are getting left behind.
A STARK YEAR FOR DEMOCRATS
(David Shribman)
David Shribman - Plenty of people are driving cars they don't want or, worse still, living in homes they can't afford. That's a natural part of a consumer society, especially during a recession. But this fall we may witness a mass example of buyers' remorse in the political world.
THE SUMMER OF OUR DISCONTENTS
(Cynthia Tucker)
Cynthia Tucker - WASHINGTON -- What a weird summer!
BUSINESSMEN OF THE WORLD, UNITE!
(Richard Reeves)
Richard Reeves - LOS ANGELES -- In the early 1980s, in a book called "American Journey," I calculated that American corporate chief executive officers were making 30 to 40 times as much as they paid average production workers. Looking back at that, I see that I was surprised to learn that that ratio had increased from 25-to-1 in 1970 -- and that in other developed countries the ratio was closer to 10-to-1.
The Latest Oil Platform Accident Is a Grim Reminder of Our Energy Challenges
(Huffington Post)
Huffington Post - Read Sen. Tom Carper's other articles on HuffingtonPost.com
Throw this on the Labor Day grill: tax cuts for small business
(The Christian Science Monitor)
The Christian Science Monitor - This Labor Day weekend, the jobs outlook appears about as inviting as leftover potato salad. But President Obama found encouragement Friday in the jobs report for August.
Is the GOP ready for prime time?
(The Week)
The Week - All signs point to big Republican gains in November, enabling the GOP to implement its agenda. But what agenda is that?
Quote of the Day: Why Internet Debates Are So Awful
(The Atlantic Wire)
The Atlantic Wire - "I have thought a lot about why people get so hostile online, and I have
come to believe it is primarily because we live in a society with a
hypertrophied sense of justice and an atrophied sense of humility and charity, to put the matter in terms of the classic virtues. ... In our online debates, we not only fail to cultivate
charity and humility, we come to think of them as vices: forms of
weakness that compromise our advocacy. And so we go forth to war with
one another."--Alan Jacobs, professor of English at Wheaton College, writing at Big Questions Online. (Via ArtsJournal.)
Election 2010 surprise: rise of black Republicans
(The Christian Science Monitor)
The Christian Science Monitor - In June, a Charleston businessman named Tim Scott won the Republican nomination for South Carolina's First Congressional District, defeating Paul Thurmond, the son of state political legend Strom Thurmond, with nearly 70 percent of the primary vote.